Llewellyn's Complete Book of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

by Sasha Graham

  Symbolic

  Esoteric Function: No function

  Hebrew Letter: Aleph

  Element: Air

  Astrological Association: Uranus

  The Fool’s tunic displays ten circles. The circles represent the ten emanations (Sephiroth) on the Hebrew Tree of Life. These emanations or circles connect the major arcana’s Kabbalistic paths. A careful examination of the circles reveals an eight-spoked wheel inside each circle. Just as the pentacle’s star represents four elements and the human spirit, the eight-spoked wheel represents the Golden Dawn’s symbol for spirit.

  A red feather sprouts from the Fool’s cap. Historically, a feather marks the Fool. The Visconti-Sforza deck’s Fool carried a slew of red feathers in his hair. Ancient Italian and Christian art used the feather, particularly peacock feathers, as symbols of immortality. The RWS deck’s placement of red feathers on the Fool, Death, and Sun cards strings together the narrative of occult expression. The three cards are intimately connected. The Fool’s feather marks the occultist moving through degrees of initiation and experience. The Fool is emergence, Death signifies rebirth, and the Sun card merges the occultist with divinity.

  Waite describes the Fool’s reaction to the gaping cliff before him, stating, “The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him.” Innocence protects the Fool. Many interpretations suggest the cliff continues to regenerate under the Fool’s light step. The Fool, impervious to any danger the cliff represents, embodies a person unconcerned with external threats.

  The Fool is assigned the Hebrew letter Aleph and the element of air because he is the “Breath of Life.” The Fool’s dog is drawn in the same shape of the Hebrew letter Aleph, which is considered to be the animating principle of life. Geraldine Beskin, proprietress of the Atlantic Bookshop in London, discovered Pamela’s source material for the Fool’s dog, who is none other than Ellen Terry’s favorite pet. Famed actress Ellen Terry took Pamela under her wing after Pamela’s father passed away. In addition to Ellen being the muse for many of Pamela’s cards, so was her favorite pooch.

  The Fool carries a bag fastened to the end of a stick. The Fool’s bag reflects the experience he brings with him into his new life. We may be done with the past, but is the past done with us? His bag reminds us how as new cycles begin, we bring the past with us. Experience and past events may be hidden, even forgotten, yet their imprints remain. The Fool’s bag of experience includes past lives, genetic inheritance, and any event an individual has experienced.

  The Fool walks from right to left. His movement imitates the Hebrew alphabet, also written and read from right to left. The World dancer moves right to receive the Fool’s energy. Only the Death card moves directly into the Fool card, reflecting the end of the physical journey and the beginning of the spiritual journey.

  The Fool’s left hand holds a white flower, yet he looks in the opposite direction. Does he acknowledge what he holds? Perhaps he does not see his gift. Alchemical white reflects purity, while flowers represent manifestation. The white flower thus becomes a potent symbol of seeking what already lies within. As the Fool, each of us enters our journey and life cycle innocently. Experience forges us into who we become. Each person we meet, challenge we face, and obstacle we overcome teaches us more about who we are. The Fool’s white flower is the glistening potential inside each and every one of us. It is the pursuit of this flower and the people and places we touch along the way that truly matters. In the end, no matter how wild the journey, we come back to ourselves. Like Dorothy of Oz, we find there is no place like home. The home and flower we sought were inside us all along.

  Profane

  Optimism. Innocence. Adventure. New cycle. Clean slates.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy, bewrayment.

  Reversed: Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.

  Asana

  The Fool card aligns with yoga’s mountain pose, or tadasana, or samasthiti. The Fool reflects pure consciousness and contains every tarot card inside of him. The same can be said for mountain pose, the place from which all movement issues forth and eventually returns. Mountain pose usually begins a practice, and it is also the physical posture we often take in regular life as we greet the world beyond the mat. The Fool is symbolically placed on a mountaintop landscape, further aligning it with mountain pose. Mountain pose offers a moment to balance ourselves, come to the present moment, reflect upon spiritual clarity, and consider the heights to which we aspire to ascend. The card and the pose also prepare us for the looming adventure lying ahead of us, both in our practice and in our life, which, of course, are one and the same.

  The Magician

  In a few lines

  tell your story.

  Pamela Colman Smith33

  Sacred

  The Fool is consciousness awakened. The Magician marks the point at which the individual becomes master of his or her consciousness. The Magician holds a powerful key for both tarot and life. His key is mastery of the self. The Magician’s experience is strictly in his control. This is the reason all four suits of tarot sit ready and waiting upon the Magician’s table. A Magician chooses both thoughts and tools wisely. The Magician doesn’t control his “outside.” He doesn’t control the weather or the stock market or wield maniacal influence over the actions of others. The Magician is in control of his interior experience. Doing so, he decides what his experience of life will be. It is a mental process used consciously and unconsciously by millions of people, from dancers to athletes, from scientists to yogis, from students to teachers. No individual can control external events. However, we are free to control and determine our response to external events, people, and places. This is how a jailed prisoner may experience complete freedom behind bars. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” The Golden Dawn was well aware of the Magician’s secret. Now you hold the key to his magic. It is a tool you have always possessed. You have complete control over your experience of life once you have control over the mind and emotion.

  The Magician exudes a wild charisma, yet he works not for the crowd. Energy radiates through his pores because he is an electric channel, like a power cord buzzing with intensity, looking for an outlet. He uses his wand to siphon energy from the celestial realm above. The energy floods his body and moves through him as he directs it toward the ground, the place of manifestation. The Magician thus becomes the channel for three levels of existence: the upper spiritual world, the middle “real” world of reality (the one we all live in), and the lower world of dreamtime. He embodies the goal of various spiritual traditions as the divine union of energetic connection. The Magician embodies the Sanskrit word yoga, meaning “union.”

  The Magician and ordinary individuals differ only in the awareness of their act. Attention is energy. Our body is a device controlling energy at every moment of every day. We conserve and build energy at night as we sleep. Our energy is spent during waking hours on people, places, and things. We turn our attention to something and we light it up. The Magician, who already resonates with innate personal power, collects additional energy from above. His posture mimics a flower opening to receive solar rays. His posture reflects the yogi in a sun salutation posture who infuses herself with solar energy. His wand acts like the tip of a cathedral spire, church steeple, or pyramid channeling divine energy from above. This electricity moves through his physical form and is infused with his awareness. The energy exits his body through his pointed finger. He directs it toward the ground, aligning it with his clear intention.

  His stance aligns with the great esoteric truth “as above, so below.” The phrase expresses a complex and evocative idea. What is true for the macrocosm (the world) is true for the microcosm (the individual). What exists on the
inside (interior world) exists on the outside (exterior world). Observe this axiom at work in a negative individual who harbors an angry worldview. Your irritable and annoyed neighbor holds an inner filter of experience making the world look depressing and dark. The individual’s irritable inner feelings are projected on the outside world. You see a beautiful sunset while they see a wasted day. We can identify the inner filter acutely when recalling the experience of falling in love. The world is aglow with magic and excitement when under love’s epic spell. The flowers sing, days breed excitement, nights harbor erotic mystery. The opposite holds true during extreme periods of tragic grief where time slows and sorrow washes over once-colorful days that fade to black and white. In every circumstance, the exterior world has barely changed. The interior world decorates the outer world. The Magician who recognizes this truth becomes aware of her projection. She stops fighting against external elements and surrenders to them. By giving up the ghost and surrendering—even to a painful circumstance—she cultivates freedom. Discovering this power, she begins working to master the alignment of her inner life to the outer life and discovers a transformation on every imaginable level. Aware of how the inner and outer world works, the Magician directs her energy anywhere she chooses. The Magician’s life becomes an enchantment of her own making.

  Waite describes the Magician in Tarot, A Wheel of Fortune as a man on whom “the spark from Heaven has fallen.” These sparks, seen as electric yellow drops on various other cards, are called the sparks of Yod. They carry enlightenment from the highest source. Yod is the holy active principle. Waite speaks of the Magician’s posture: “It is known in very high grades of the Instituted Mysteries; it shows the descent of grace, virtue and light, drawn from things above and derived to things below.” The “high grades of Instituted Mysteries” is the Golden Dawn. The “descent of grace, virtue and light” is the drawing down of energy and descriptions of the light. “Derived to things below” reflects where the Magician channels his energy. Waite describes the items on the Magician’s table as “the four Tarot suits, signifying the elements of natural life.” Here are the four elements, the material world displayed. It is earth (pentacles), air (cups), fire (wands), and water (cups). These are the Magician’s tools. They contain everything in the material world including the four directions, north, south, east, and west.

  Waite points to the symbolic nature of the flowers: “Beneath are roses and lilies, the flos campi and lilium convallium, changed into garden flowers, to show the culture of aspiration.” Flos campi and lilium convallium are Latin for “the flower of the field” and “the lily of the valley.” This phrase comes from the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) written on one of the last scrolls of the Hebrew Bible and found in the Old Testament. It is a unique piece of holy scripture celebrating sexual love. In the Hebrew Bible it is an allegory of the love between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba or Israel and Yahweh (Hebrew God). Early Christianity adopted it and expressed the allegory between church as bride and Jesus as bridegroom. Waite uses the symbolism to express the union of the Magician with “attainment of the spirit.” He goes on to say “This card signifies the divine motive in man…its union with that which is above.” As above, so below.

  Symbolic

  Esoteric Functions: Life and Death

  Hebrew Letter: Beth

  Astrological Association: Mercury

  Waite tells us, “Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the figure 8 in a horizontal position.” Waite refers to it as the lemniscate, a sideways figure eight. It represents the eternal flow of energy. He describes the various associations to the number eight: “The mystic number is termed Jerusalem above, the Land flowing with Milk and Honey, the Holy Spirit and the Land of the Lord. According to Martinism, 8 is the number of Christ.” Waite associates the number eight with multiple forms of divinity and worship. Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Multiple biblical events are ascribed to it. Martinism is a branch of Christian mysticism aimed at integrating humanity with its divine source.

  The number eight associates with Mercury, Egyptian god Thoth, and Hermes Trismegistus (meaning “three times great”), along with the Hebrew letter Beth, which aligns with Mercury and qualities of quick-witted communication, cleverness, learning, and writing. Waite references the Magician’s belt: “About his waist is a serpent-cincture, the serpent appearing to devour its own tail. This is familiar to most as a conventional symbol of eternity, but here it indicates more especially the eternity of attainment in the spirit.” The snake eating his own tail echoes the message of infinity as “repetition without end.” Waite’s phrase “attainment of the spirit” reflects the occultist’s intentional journey of return back up the Tree of Life in order to merge with the forces that gave birth to him, thus completing the eternal circle. The soul finds itself reflected in the eyes of divinity.

  The Magician card’s flowers reflect the results of the Magician’s ceremonial magic. Blooming flowers represent effective and workable spells and incantations. Use the body, mind, and spirit to channel energy. Achieve desired results by allowing the energy of the universe to flow through you. Do not resist. The etchings on the table sides reflect ancient knowledge at your fingertips. The Magician’s wand is the instrument of intention. Dual wands are held by the figure in the World card. The Fool emerged as consciousness. The Magician awakens to his power. He is aware and in control. The next stage unfolds as darkness brings the High Priestess to the fore.

  Profane

  Charisma. Magnetism. Electricity. Center of attention. Intention. Purposeful magic. Asserting one’s will. Creating change on the material level. If a yes-no question, the answer is: yes, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Skill, diplomacy, address, subtlety; sickness, pain, loss, disaster, snares of enemies; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male.

  Reversed: Physician, Magus, mental disease, disgrace, disquiet.

  Asana

  The Magician card aligns with yoga’s sun salutation, or surya namaskar. The sun salutation is a dynamic pose, matching the Magician’s energetic stance. The sun salutation channels solar energy from above and invites it into the body, just as the Magician channels divine energy through his body and into the material world via his magic wand. The energetic flow of each differs slightly. The Magician acts as a conduit who moves the energy into the ground beneath him, whereas the yogi channels the sun’s solar energy into their own body, keeping it there to build internal heat. The yogi’s energy is ultimately released into the world after their practice in their subsequent thoughts and actions.

  The High Priestess

  Sunsets fade from rose to grey, and clouds scud across the sky. The cold moon bewitches all the scene.

  Pamela Colman Smith34

  Sacred

  The High Priestess issues forth thunderous silence and exists in a realm beyond articulation, words, or speech. She is the space of devotion. She is felt, intuited, understood. The High Priestess is the place where you stop thinking and start doing. The High Priestess contains everything making you unique. She is a pure source of personal authenticity. The High Priestess is the litmus test inside of you. She is the space you move to when you ask yourself, “Is this what I really want?” Her throne is the seat of your soul; her waters, your life energy. The moon gracing her head and feet remind you of the ebb and flow of life. Her gentle lunar energy reminds you she is always there, always constant, no matter your outer state. Inside you she is malleable, she shapeshifts, she reminds us to find, awaken, and access her deep wells of wisdom.

  The High Priestess is the blueprint of the soul and container of sacred depth. The book of your life rests upon her lap. The book cannot be read. It must be lived. Every single event and experience that you have had or will have is marked in her scroll. Thoughts from your highest self to your mur
ky shadow self are recorded on creamy white parchment. The book writes and rewrites itself as intentions and actions alter past, present, and future.

  The High Priestess’s eloquent silence fosters the space for a creative response to any situation. She is the gap between self and spirit. Inside the chasm is the container of possibility. Slipping into High Priestess silence allows words, confusion, and distraction to fall away. The ego is relinquished. Perception is mastered. The third eye awakens. Wisdom ushers forth. Intuition graces the senses. Authenticity of the soul is attained as you align with your unique true purpose.

  Waite calls her “the Queen of the borrowed light, but this is the light of all.” He references lunar qualities, as the moon borrows its light from the sun when it reflects solar rays toward the earth. Waite says, “She is the Moon nourished by the milk of the Supernal Mother,” meaning she is the child who gains sustenance from the mother. The Supernal Mother refers to the

  Divine and to the highest trinity on the Tree of Life, called the supernal triad. Waite tells us she is the child of the deity. He says, “In a manner, she is also the Supernal Mother herself—that is to say, she is the bright reflection.” Waite means she, like us, reflects the divine nature which creates us. Divinity is like a parent whose children reflects them. But Waite puts her above all others, stating she is the “Spiritual Bride of the just man.” She is the all-encompassing spiritual nature that is evocative, sensual, and silent. Waite says, “When she reads the Law she gives the Divine meaning.” His powerful statement suggests she gives substance to spiritual meaning. She acts like a power generator, infusing all material things with spiritual light. The mysteries and the ecstasy of spiritual transcendence are contained within the High Priestess. Giving the High Priestess his highest accolade and assigning her the utmost importance inside the deck, Waite says, “There are some respects in which this card (the High Priestess) is the highest and holiest of the Greater Arcana.”